Don't Drink Poison Whiskey, Don't You Drink It Boy
by ZodIaCCaT
Summary: He felt drugged and slow under the constant oppressive powers her newborns leaked through his cell door. Suddenly it opened, his sire standing in the frame. "Ready to feed?" She asked him dully, and with hands shaking so badly, he almost said yes. JASPER
1. How about a drink?

Hullo ha!

If you're thinking this is Jasper/Bella *smacks you with a rolled up newspaper* NO!

But seriously, only canon pairings, I'm all good with branching out into fan pairings but they just don't sit

well with me for Twilight. Soul mates and all that romantic shit…oh yeah some cursing because mostly everyone in Twilight is well over seventeen and I can rate it so.

Next, this is a major Jasper centric (get it? Pun! Major Jasper seewhatididthere?) cause he really, in my opinion, has one of the more interesting unexplored backgrounds, and he's just a sweetie.

I don't do character bashing so don't think I don't like a character if that's what it sounds like. I am able to like Jacob as Bella's best friend, and yes I even like Rosalie in all her bitchy glory but I might tone it down here because I can and all that.

(Whew, I think all this author power is going to my head)

There will be OCs, no Mary Sues, except Bella (joking!), but I think you'll like them alright.

They're really only there to facilitate the Jasper angst.

So onward soldier! And remember,

Happy reviews make for angsty characters!!!!

* * *

Honestly, keeping up appearances for the small townsfolk of Forks was the last thing Jasper Cullen wanted to spend his Saturday doing, but since he had been the only one available, the meaningless chore of grocery shopping fell onto his shoulders.

Jasper wondered if Edward and Alice had already known about Carlisle's little task yesterday, and that had been the reason he'd gone hunting alone so they could throw the task to him while his four siblings went a day later claiming they'd been too busy to hunt until today.

Alice probably thought she was doing him a favor. All the humans around him were hardly appetizing due to the horrid smell of human food glazing over the coppery scent that always had him reeling with sickening hunger.

The basket he held in his hand contained mostly food of Bella's favorites, and he chuckled as he picked up a small carton of milk. Esme had told him he didn't need to get too much since she'd just gone shopping at the beginning of the week.

"Buy only a little more than Bella will eat in a few visits." He was also told to make sure to buy mostly well preserved foods so that they would keep for a while until their resident human got to them.

Speaking of his soon to be sister, underneath all the raw meats and sushi Jasper caught a whiff of Bella's unusual human scent, and he followed the trail. He was rounding the aisle and he saw her, but she was looking down at what he supposed was a shopping list, and hadn't noticed him, or anyone for that matter as people moved aside to let her pass.

It was a wonder she hadn't tripped yet, knowing how clumsy she could be.

Jasper on the other hand stood his ground, clearing his throat right before she would have ran into him, all too aware that with how fast she had been walking it might not have been safe to let her hit him.

She startled from her reading and looked up from her list, Jasper could feel the pleasant surprise coming from her at seeing him standing before her.

"What are you doing here?" Bella laughed, obviously sharing his feelings of utter absurdity at the charade his parents felt the need to keep up.

"Shopping for you, my little human sister. For your small size you sure do eat a lot." Bella huffed and walked around him, but Jasper could feel no anger coming from her for his joke, and he followed.

He allowed her to shift through the basket in his arms, and found that she was quite pleased with his choices, except for the milk he had just picked up which she returned to the freezer and pulled out another that Jasper thought looked exactly the same.

"It's skim milk," She replied, as she placed it in the basket, "It's how I keep my "small size"." Jasper couldn't help but chuckle at her sarcasm.

He followed her around for another twenty minutes, watching her find different variations of easy to cook dinners for her and Charlie and helping her with the large case of water which he placed under her cart like it was a loaf of bread. Once she was done he followed her to the check out line, moving in front of her down to the clerk ready to pay with Carlisle's credit card.

"We're together," He said motioning to both his small basket and Bella's full grocery cart.

"JASPER!" She hissed sharply when she realized what he was doing. He smiled at her outburst and began unloading her items from her cart onto the belt.

"I'm not being nice," He whispered to her, "This way, we get to skip another trip here this week and maybe next since it looks like I'm buying so much." She smacked his should lightly as he hauled the water from under her cart onto the conveyer belt.

He felt a twinge of sharp pain spiking from behind him and knew that she'd hurt her hand on his shoulder. Quickly dropping the case of water on the counter he spun around making sure to do so at a normal human pace and carefully took her hand in his own.

The skin on her knuckles was red and he could tell they would be a bit bruised later. He saw red rush to her cheeks and thought for a moment how cute his little sister was. He wondered if he had he ever thought a human was this cute?

His brother sure knew how to pick a mate.

"Please don't tell Emmett about that. He'll laugh until he actually needs to take a breath." Jasper cooled over her embarrassment and sent a wave of ease to replace it and also to block out the soreness in her hand.

"Don't worry, nothing's broken."

"Um…dude, some people don't have all day! You can make out with your girlfriend later." Jasper growled over Bella's shoulder at the tall man who was waiting impatiently behind them, but went back to unloading her cart.

Once everything was rung up and added he swiped the card roughly through the machine and grabbed the font of the cart that was now filled with their bagged purchases and led the way out the store and into the parking lot. Bella could tell he was still irritated and left him alone until they reached her old truck. They separated the item's that Jasper had picked, which only consisted of four bags, and had loaded up the back before Bella felt the need to speak.

"You probably shouldn't growl like that in public." She teased, finally allowing Jasper to let his serious face slip with a smile.

"You sound like Edward."

"Do I?"

"Yes, him and Esme are always telling us things like that. Usually though, it's Rosalie, she makes this high-pitch growl when she's angry. It actually really funny. Ask her to show it--." Jasper stopped mid sentence, his knees buckling underneath him suddenly as if he'd been hit square in the stomach.

The bags he held fell to the ground and Bella's skim milk opened, splattering the bottoms of her jeans.

"Jasper?!" Bella raced to his side as he held onto the edge of her old truck, blinking rapidly like he was trying to recover from getting the wind knocked out of him.

Bella had only ever seen a vampire in pain a few times while underground in Voltrerra and in the forest, both had been her Edward suffering under the powers of Jane. She didn't know if the expression on Jasper's face was in fact pain or something else, he looked as if he was more confused.

"Jasper!" She made sure to move carefully, not knowing what to expect from him.

"Edward." Jasper hissed her love's name through his teeth as if calling for his help. His hand went up to his temple and he shook his head roughly, trying to rid himself of the daze that clung to his mind.

Jasper slipped down to the ground, his golden eyes focusing on something past her.

His cell phone began to ring and the sound only seemed to make things worse for him like the noise itself was scraping against his ear drums.

With hands badly shaking Jasper attempted to hand the phone over to Bella only to have it slip through his fingers and clatter to the floor. Bella knelt next to him and picked it up quickly.

Not even looking at the caller ID knowing it must have been one of the Cullen's, she flipped open the cell and spoke.

"H-hello?"

"Bella…," Edward's worried voice seems to calm as soon as he heard her. "What's wrong with Jasper? He made me scare away our hunt and his thoughts are so jumbled. I can't hear-."

"I-I don't know, he seems hurt. Edward somebody should get over here. We're at the Supermart. I don't know what to do. Jasper?" She tried calling his name again but she was met with the sound of his grinding teeth.

The empath's blonde hair fell over his eyes and Bella could clearly make out the pain he must have been feeling from the way his jaw muscle twitched.

Edward spoke again, his voice crackling from the bad reception the mountains provided.

"Bella, he's worried. Ask him if he smells another vampire around."

"Jasper. Do you know if there's another vampire nearby." Jasper snarled at her, startling Bella and causing her to squeak and move back so suddenly she dropped his cell phone.

She heard Edward's voice coming from the ground but she didn't pick it back up.

"Bella!!" Edward was sounding more worried by the moment, he had obviously heard his brother but had no clue what was happening.

"You have to get out of here Bella," Jasper hissed, once again shaking his head as if he could clear away the mysterious fog. Something seemed to be affecting his senses.

Bella was panicking, she couldn't just leave him here, but for some reason Jasper had told her to leave. That meant something dangerous must be heading towards them.

"Jasper I'm not-" She spun around when she heard it, her hair whipping in the cool air of the twilight as she looked for its source.

The growling and snapping sounds she'd heard before had surrounded them, and Bella could see at least four large men approaching from the back of the supermarket.

Oh, how she wished she hadn't parked on the side so no one would park near her. The side parking lot was nearly empty, only employees and the occasional biker parking there. But she knew no human could help them against at least four vampires rivaling Emmett's large size.

Jasper leapt up from the ground, stumbling just slightly and clumsily took her into his arms without warning. Bella wondered if he wouldn't tip over as he swayed on his feet, but Jasper managed to still gently hold her to him and send a growl in the way of the immortals that were taking their time approaching.

Jasper pulled her only slightly tighter to him and curled his spine, poised to run. Bella couldn't believe it when she felt him attempting to send a wave a calm to her, but it was weak and disappeared before it could even settle. For him to be worried about her emotions at a time like this...

"Jasper…" Bella tried to ease his worry and keep the fear from her voice, but it was so hard, and Japer was as still as a statue.

"Bella…I'm sorry. I can't find an opening that would be safe enough."

Her heart dropped in her stomach. Jasper had his eyes glued to the vampires that had finally stopped and formed a wide circle around the two of them. Bella noticed two more had come from behind and completed the circle.

This time Jasper did manage to put more force behind a wave of calm and it stayed, settling over her easily when he sent it.

"What do you want?" Jasper made no attempt at pleasantries like Carlisle normally did; he could probably feel what their true intentions were.

"What's the great, Major Whitlock doing with a human?" One of the larger of the group questioned.

Bella could tell that there was no respect coming from the man, only mockery as he used the title.

"She is my sister." Bella was surprised to see a soft upturn of Jasper's thinned lips.

"She smells too good to turn," A second spoke sniffing the air. Jasper's shoulders were shaking, the tremors noticeable to everyone. "You seem to agree."

"You wont be taking her. Our coven is already on their way, leave _now_."

"We are well aware of that, two are only a minute away, four more right behind them. We are only here to deliver a message from someone you should remember…"Ella lo consigue, o la suya coven dados"."

The foreign words must have meant something to him because Jasper couldn't help but project a large wave of surprise and panic, exploding out and over her like a burst of energy. His shock didn't last for more than a second and he composed himself, snarling and clutching Bella tighter.

Jasper's reaction seemed to please the other man, for he laughed and motioned for them to retreat; their work done with enough time to escape the rest of the Cullens.

With them gone Bella attempted to finally calm her erratic heartbeat. Jasper seemed to be having trouble, and Bella realized he was unconsciously gasping for air he no longer needed. Without the threat of attackers Jasper's strength left him and he stumbled before falling again to his knees still holding her.

"Jasper." Bella wished to calm him, like he was always calming her, but it seemed as if her whisper had hardly even reached him. He still gazed past the line of thin trees where the vampires had fled, his pupils slit so much she could hardly see anything but a thin black line.

"Jasper, Bella!" Carlisle's strong voice reached her from across the parking lot, but hardly a half a second later he was right next to them kneeling on their left while Esme crouched to their right.

She took Bella's face in her cold gentle hands, and inspected her, moving between her and her unresponsive son.

"Jasper," Carlisle spoke, nothing in his voice but absolute authority, "Give Bella to me, and calm yourself." And despite the tone his father had used Jasper didn't comply, not really growling but making an odd noise in his throat that reminded Bella of the whine Jacob would make in his wolf form.

"Carlisle!" Alice's soft, musical voice called to her father, and Bella saw her, Rosalie, Edward, and Emmett had arrived as well. Edward wasted no time moving before them, breaking Jasper's focused gaze on the tree line.

"Jasper, I'm right here, thank you for protecting Bella." He spoke sincerely and the relief in his voice was practically tangible to Jasper.

Edward finally seemed to call Jasper back, and he relaxed upon seeing his brother.

Edward would keep their Bella safe.

Without Edward having to ask, Jasper carefully transported Bella over into his waiting arms. Without her to occupy them Jasper's arms dropped uselessly in his lap for a moment until he rose.

Bella looked up as Jasper stood on shaky legs.

She couldn't quell the curiosity, "What did he say to you?" She asked him remembering the panic and hoping against hope that it wasn't more trouble for her family.

Jasper smiled at her fondly, and she was suddenly finding it hard to keep her eyes open. She frowned at his guilty smile and wondered why she was suddenly so tired.

Before she fell asleep Bella whispered her brother's name, her tone filled with so much gratitude for keeping her safe so she could return to her Edward, but everythign was fading, and she was suddenly unable to fight against the levels of exhaustion overpowering her other senses.

She turned her head to lean against Edward's shoulder and let the darkness come.

=T=W=I=L=I=G=H=T=

Edward hugged his love softly to his chest, her soft breathing was more than enough to calm his frazzled nerves.

"Jasper." Alice was trying to pull her unresponsive husband in the direction of their home, but Jasper wouldn't move until Edward did. Once Bella had been safely placed in Edward's arms Jasper's eyes had jumped back to the tree line, as if waiting for an ambush, and he moved aside to let Edward pass before taking Alice's hand tightly and following, training his ears to listen for even the smallest snap of a twig, on edge their entire run back home.

The Cullens reached the house quickly and Jasper collapsed on the sofa, his long legs hanging over the side.

While everyone else was settling in for the explanation he found Alice near him. "She's okay?"

His voice was cracking as he asked her, and his wife nodded, brushing his soft blonde hair from his eyes.

"She fine." Jasper's shaking hands found Alice's face and he pulled her to him, kissing the crown of her head and taking in the scent of her as if memorizing it.

"What the hell happened?" Emmett growled apparently having waited long enough and quite possibly using all his restraint to keep from shouting and waking the sleeping Bella.

Jasper looked up from Alice's hair and rubbed a scarred hand over his face.

"Were they just looking for a hunt?" Rosalie asked the calmest of all of them, but Jasper saw her eyes flicker to Edward and the frail human in his arms she would soon call her sister.

"It's me." Jasper clenched his fists and pressed them to his eyes not able to look at his family knowing the trouble he'd brought to them.

"What the fu-." Carlisle raised a hand to silence Emmett.

"Jasper, we are not all mind readers like Edward."

Whatever had happened to his powers was still effecting his emotions and Jasper couldn't help but growl, not really at his adoptive father but at the question he didn't feel like answering.

"It's Maria, she sent them to give me a message, that she wants me back." Alice gasped and moved to take his face in her hands.

"She can't have you!" Jasper placed his hands on top of his love's, relishing the warm, soft skin, never wanting Alice to take her hands away.

"Alice, I don't know how many she has gathered with her. She sent six of her men just to send me her message. Imagine how many she'll bring to kill us if she doesn't get her way."

"Don't be so negative Jas, we just took out twenty newborns a month ago." Emmett laughed. Excitement was spiking off him, and it only made Jasper angrier.

"Is that how many you think she has?" His enthusiasm for a fight had always had Jasper worrying for his brother's safety. That stupid eagerness for battle would get him killed one day.

"We can get the mongrels to fight with us again. They'll help if Bella's in danger-which she always is anywa-." Jasper leapt up from the couch and grabbed the nearest vase, hurtling it at the wall next to where Emmett was standing and effectively silencing him. His family was shocked. He was always the calm one who cooled any situation with ease, and seeing him this upset unnerved them all, even Alice.

"_None _of you are in danger! Don't you get that?! _None_ of you are fighting _anything_ because I'm going!"

Emmett was silent as Jasper yelled, and didn't make a sound as his brother collapsed back onto the couch, where even Alice was hesitant to reach out to him.

"It doesn't have to be difficult for you. I don't want it to be." Jasper whispered, everyone could tell he was emotionally spent.

Alice sobbed, and although her eyes were shining, tears refused to fall from her golden eyes. "Why didn't I see this coming?" She wondered angrily. Jasper looked at her through half lidded eyes, pained at her sadness as he felt it leaking into him.

"I think…they have a vampire able to null our powers, and minds."

"That must be why you're being such a dumb ass." Jasper ignored Emmett and continued.

"I was practically screaming at Edward but I heard him telling Bella he could hardly hear me, and I couldn't feel Bella's emotions after a certain point. I could hardly feel Esme and Carlisle when they were right next to us."

Carlisle rubbed his jaw, remembering something he had come across during his years.

"I've only heard of one other vampire who could do that, but she works with the Volturri, and would never side with an army of dangerous, uncontrollable vampires." Carlisle explained.

"The disorientation was erratic, like a newborn who didn't quite know how to control their power yet." Carlisle nodded absently, taking in the information and heading to his study.

"I'm going to call a few contacts that should know what Maria's been up to. Ever since you and Alice joined us this has always been a possibility and I wanted to be prepared. We wont do anything tonight, alright, son?"

"Alright." Jasper couldn't help but agree softly, feeling the overpowering mixture of worry, protectiveness, and love that came from Carlisle as he disappeared into his office.

Bella mumbled something for the first time in her sleep, that sounded very much like 'Alice, no, and dress' and everyone laughed, letting the tense atmosphere in the room ease for the time being.

Esme bent down and kissed her human daughter's forehead and spoke quietly to Edward, suggesting he take her home for the night.

"We still need to hunt." Rosalie remembered. Jasper noticed his siblings' eyes were pitch black, the stress of the day probably not helping their hunger.

"I can't leave Bella." Esme took her gently from him, giving Edward time to argue, but he didn't.

"Why don't I take her home and watch her, you four go, they don't seem to want to hurt her, but just in case I'll stay with her until you get back." Edward nodded, and gave a pointed look to his large brother.

"No bears. We find the first thing big enough and are back here as soon as possible. Jasper maybe you should come with us?"

"No I'm too spent, and I'll make too much noise, but don't take more than two hours, it might be too soon for her, but Maria might see this as a opportune time to attack with us all divided." Everyone nodded and his four siblings sped from the house, intent on feeding as fast as they could.

Jasper turned to his small mother who truly looked the part carrying Bella in her arms.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Esme shook her head and smiled at him.

"Rest your mind, Bella and I will be alright for an hour, which is, I'm sure all Edward will allow himself the time to hunt." Jasper nodded and watched her leave. He exhaled slowly as if he were physically expelling the weary emotions that had been left floating in the room and tipped his head back shutting his eyes and enjoying the dark.

After a good half hour of quiet resting, Jasper moaned and rose from the couch. Moving over to where Emmett had been standing earlier he winced at the broken remains of one of Esme's favorite vases.

Moving into the kitchen he noticed the four bags that he'd bought with Bella sitting on the counter. Someone must have grabbed them before they left, and he wondered if Bella's old truck was still sitting in the parking lot.

Chuckling halfheartedly he placed the slightly smushed cereal boxes and the half empty carton of skim milk where they belonged and bent down to grab the empty trash can they kept under the sink. Walking back into the living room with it so he could clean up the mess he began scooping handfuls of the shattered glass into the bin.

"I'll have to buy her another one." Jasper whispered to himself out loud, but quiet enough that Carlisle wouldn't hear him from his study. He wrapped his fingers around a rather large piece and moved to place it in the bin as well.

As his hand hovered over the bin ready to drop the broken piece he felt as if his hand was suddenly on fire and he cried out softly, surprised. The glass fell with the other pieces and he pulled his hand to him, inspecting it, not really believing what he was seeing.

Blood poured from where the glass had apparently broken his skin and pooled through his fingers to drip on the floor.

"That must sting. You should be careful when you handle glass."

Jasper spun around almost falling over. How had he not heard anyone sneaking in?

"You should be careful with glass." The boy repeated nodding to where Jasper sat with his other hand resting on the pile. Jasper felt the shards on the floor cut into his palm and he hissed and when he pulled it back surprised he saw multiple shards sticking into the skin.

"Do you know how scary it is having a human body? I'm young so I can't control it just yet. That's why Maria doesn't let me fight too much." The young boy spoke pleasently and crouched down a foot away from where Jasper sat, unable to move and tear his eyes away, the boy was an otherworldly type of beautiful, something about him made Jasper's heart…

"What are you doing?" The child smiled at him, his red eyes sparkling and even in the dim light of the living room his red hair was highlighted.

"Do you feel weak? Humans are so fragile, but you must have forgotten what it was like. Do you prefer your immortal body? I like being a vampire, but I still get to eat candy and ice cream if I feel like it." The small red head moved closer only inches away and fear like Jasper had never felt welled up in his veins.

He felt truly powerless for the first time in 143 years.

"Maria said I couldn't feed from you, but she was right, you do smell good as a human. I just had to see for myself." The spell was broken and Jasper's skin returned to normal, the cuts from the glass gone, as well as the blood. The only sign that it had even happened was the remaining drops that were drying on the floor.

Jasper growled at the child, and kicked out, but the boy was faster and dodged the foot easily.

"Maria said you were strong, but that's odd, she's never lied to me before."

"You're young." It wasn't a question but the boy nodded.

"Just under a year. I suppose that's why Maria's looking for you. My sister and I will be weakening soon and she wants to remove us from the front lines permanently. She needs a strong soldier to lead." Jasper wondered if this sister he talked about was the one with the ability to nullify their powers.

"She sent you to get me." The boy's red eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs.

"Have you realized you don't have a choice?" Jasper shook his head defiantly.

"I haven't led that lifestyle in too long, I can hardly stand against twenty newborns as I am. She won't want me back."

"She's already prepared to recondition you to the ways of our true nature. All you need to do is come with me." Jasper could feel the pain in his hands returning and the wonder creeping back into him, effectively shutting off his instinct to fight.

Wasn't there something he had to keep safe. "My family." He whispered, trying to form a whole sentence and failing under the boy's gaze. "Don't…you have me. Don't' hurt them."

The boy nodded quickly but the promise didn't reach his eyes. "Whatever, let's just go." Jasper took the hand that was extended to him in a daze and allowed himself to be led to the door. He couldn't remember moving so slowly in a long time.

He hadn't heard the door to his father's study open but Carlisle's strong voice floated to his ears and sounded almost as wonderful to Jasper as the boy's had.

He was asking Jasper if he recalled the last place he'd seen his sire, but when he didn't receive an answer he looked up, panicked when Jasper wasn't where he'd heard him last, cleaning up the glass in the corner.

Carlisle's eyes quickly found his son looking unnaturally healthy, dazed eyes focused distractedly on him, and holding the hand of a pale boy with red eyes and red hair.

Quicker than the boy could do anything Carlisle had ran the length of the room and pulled Japer away from the him.

Carlisle was shocked even further when he heard a decidedly loud snap in the place where he'd grabbed his son's arm. Jasper didn't even cry out, and when Carlisle turned, blue human eyes were staring past him, the boy's power unbroken, Jasper still mesmerized by the red gaze, not even registering the pain of a broken arm.

Carlisle felt anger pooling in him, and he carefully backed away with Jasper behind him, all too aware that somehow his son's arm had snapped like a twig when it shouldn't have.

"What did you do to him?" He questioned.

The boy merely smirked at him showing his sharp fangs and two missing front teeth that would never grow back.

"You should be careful when handling glass."


	2. Early Times

I can't believe I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter but here it is:

I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT!!1! In case anyone was at all confused about that.

One last thing before you can move on.

For the sake of this fanfic, I've teased with the timeline a little bit, cause I've just now realized it sorta works but sorta not. Basically Charlie knows about the wedding before Jacob gets his invitation.

I'm going to play around with that can of worms probably in the next chapter.

But for now enjoy this one!

* * *

"_We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered."_

_~Tom Stoppard~_

* * *

The first thing Bella heard as she began to pull back from the edges of sleep was a soft voice humming a very familiar tune she'd normally only heard played in the melodic notes of Edward's piano. It sounded nice hearing it in the new medium of Esme's subtlety beautiful voice and she had to fight with herself for a bit not to fall right back asleep.

Bella shuffled under her covers for a moment before finally sitting up slowly, steeling herself. She had to know how bad the situation was and who she would be going with to hide. As if a light clicked on in her head she realized with a start that it was Esme _instead_ of Edward that was currently with her.

They might have already gone to fight…but the more she thought about it the less she believed that.

Anything that could shake Jasper as it had, must be something that would take more time than one single night to fix, right?

While her heartbeat calmed down Bella felt the irritation rise. She was beginning to grow less fond of being human by the day, but she would let Edward have his odd principles and weird demands.

She would finish high school, and marry her love, and then…well…Bella allowed her messy hair to hide the blush she was sure she had developed, chastising herself for thinking of such things at that moment.

After Bella was sure she had calm down her blush and certain scenarios had taken their leave from her thoughts, she ran a hand through her hair-effectively pulling it away from her face- and looked up.

Esme's smile was the first thing that greeted her. Bella was sure that she looked completely ridiculous herself having just woken up, but she returned it readily.

"Is everyone alright?" Edward's absence from his usual spot worried her and she again pictured him fighting, her mind automatically jumping back to the forest where he'd lain, twitching and writhing under Jane's power, his beautiful face set with grim determination to not show Bella just how much pain he'd been.

Her mind replayed the image of Jasper clutching his arm, venom stinging his skin when he'd attempted to be all over the battlefield so as to protect Alice, and then another image of how he'd been earlier surfaced to the very forefront of all the others.

How…drained he had looked, still protecting her and standing his ground when it was all he could do afterwards just to keep upright.

Esme calmed her fears with a light laugh and caring smile. She reached over to gently brush back a wayward piece of hair that was stuck at an odd angle.

"They're fine, Edward went to hunt with his sisters and Emmett. He should be here any second. They're trying to go as fast as they can." Bella nodded, relieved. She leaned back against the wall behind her and sighed.

'_How's Jasper's doing?' _She thought sadly.

"Jasper…is he…?" It came out mumbled, but she knew Esme had heard her.

Bella began to worry when Esme took a bit longer to answer her, which meant she was probably deciding on the choices to either tell Bella, or keep her in the dark. She seemed like she had made up her mind and began to say something but Bella's cell phone started to vibrate with a call. One that could only be coming from Alice or Edward.

Bella reached for the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?" She answered into the speaker.

"Bella, Alice saw that you were up so I called. I'm going to be at your house soon, I'll watch you the rest of the night and tomorrow morning you'll be coming to stay with us for awhile."

''_Until we decide who's going to be watching you while everyone else is out risking their lives. Lucky you gets to sit on your hands and do nothing while the rest of your family goes and puts their afterlife on the line.'' _

"Alright."

"I…," He seemed to be listening to something for a moment, and he continued, "Alice said you might want to give Jacob a call before it gets too late and ask him and the pack to come over tomorrow_. _But make sure Jacob's knows this is important and that we do need their help. Tell him we just want to talk for now." Bella nodded, but realized Edward couldn't see her over the phone so she agreed.

"Alright." Edward let her go so she could make the call.

Bella dialed the number to Jacob's cell and waited through four rings before he answered, sounding not at all happy with her once she identified herself.

"Beellllaaa," It wasn't all that late, but it seemed like her call had interrupted her best friend while he'd been trying to sleep. "Do you know what time it is?"

"10:38. Don't tell me I interrupted a dream about fire hydrants and chasing cars." Jacob chuckled from the other line and Bella could hear him moving around on his end, his bed creaking under his massive frame.

"No, a much nicer dream. You were in it."

"Jacob!" Bella fumed obviously taking his comment to have an undertone.

The werewolf laughed even harder at her. "No, nothing like that. We were just fixing up bikes again, but this time they would have been able to fly. Your logic behind it was pure genius" Bella found herself laughing along with him finding the seriousness in the way he'd said it funny, but the reason she was calling seemed to overshadow any real humor Bella saw in his joke, which Jacob must have picked up on, for he asked her about it.

"Could you and the pack meet at the Cullen's tomorrow, maybe around late noon?" Esme nodded when Bella glanced over to confirm the time, "We might have a problem." She told him.

"Those bloodsuckers of yours can't do much themselves can they?"

"_**Jacob**_." He was treading on dangerous waters with her. She did not feel like arguing with him at that moment about stupid prejudices, but it always ended up that way so she wasn't surprised.

"All right, I'll tell them, expect us probably around two, maybe earlier."

"That's fine." Bella was a little shocked, but glad that Jacob had backed down. With Esme standing right next to her and him putting his foot in his mouth, she didn't want the werewolf saying anything that would make her feel bad.

"I'll see you tomorrow Bella."

"Wait!" Bella wondered if she should ask him about the wedding invitation they'd just sent two days ago, and if it had gotten to him yet.

"Huh?" He asked her, his curiosity piqued. Thinking better of it for another moment, Bella decided to drop the subject and simply say goodbye. She closed the phone with a snap and placed it back on the dresser next to her clock exhaling the breath she been holding probably longer than necessary.

"What did you want to ask him?" Bella jumped, startled. She hadn't even noticed Edward slip through her window and relive Esme from what she'd dubbed in her head as "human sitting duty".

Bella looked down sadly at the phone, thinking back to all the deliberation she'd put into sending Jacob his invitation. She had finally decided for it. Being a special day and all-her special day and all, she would hopefully have her best friend there with her. Maybe not too happy, but still respecting her decision.

"I wanted to know if he got his invite in the mail yet."

Edward made an understanding "Ah" sound and moved to sit on the edge of the bed with her. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head as he sat.

Bella looked up at him as he settled in next to her.

"Do you think it was okay to send it, he didn't even like the _idea_. I think part of him doesn't even believe I'm gonna go through with it." Edward's arm moved to wrap around her and Bella snuggled into the cool and comforting gesture.

"I don't know if you'll like my answer, Bella, but maybe-even though he wants you to be happy…probably more than anything, he feels as if he's losing you and that feeling is overpowering everything else."

"Since when does me dying, mean that I'm actually _dying_?" Bella sighed as she began drifting.

With the warmth of her covers and the feel of Edward near her, it was too tempting for her to be anything but comfortable, and Edward didn't respond to her question when he noticed her nodding off again.

Placing one last kiss among the brown locks of Bella's hair he took in the photos hanging up around her bedroom. Photos of all the people she would have to put behind her, and he tried not to feel overwhelmingly guilty that what he'd be doing to her would also be taking her from so many people.

Her mother, her father, step-father, friends, even maybe- especially Jacob. She had connections with all of these people and would have to sever ties with each and every one of them in order to live the life of an immortal with him.

Closing his eyes against the glowering, bright stare of the full moon Edward leaned down and carefully breathed in Bella's scent, ready to wait out the morning.

__________________________________=T=W=I=L=I=G=H=T=______________________________

"Young one, I ask you to remove yourself from my home and undo whatever it is you have done to my son." Carlisle wasn't showing it on the outside, but in his mind his thoughts were near frantic. As he stared down the small vampire who'd invaded his home silently and completely undetected Carlisle tried to call out again to Edward, but he couldn't be sure if his son was being blocked from him again.

He would need all the help he could get if the boy could focus his strange gift on more than one subject at a time, but the young vampire was still focusing on Jasper and hadn't yet attacked them, there must have been limitations to the newborn's gift.

"You're the one that broke him. Poor frail bones." The boy coated his words with false compassion, setting his mouth in a sad pout and feigning sympathy. Carlisle continued to back up, his hand out behind him lightly and carefully guiding a much too compliant Jasper in the opposite direction.

Carlisle wondered how far of a away Alice and Edward had to be from whoever was able to numb their abilities in order to get a premonition or read his thoughts.

Certainly they would have been back by now if Alice had had a vision or Edward had heard him.

So Carlisle found it safe to assume it needed to be a fair distance, for their hunting grounds were high in the mountains-a fair way from the town.

"You know, Maria probably shouldn't have sent me. I can only change them, and they smell so good when they're human, especially him. I would have eaten him on the way."

"How many are you?" Carlisle wondered asking as polite as possible. Seeing as the boy like to talk, maybe some useful information could be gained.

"Do you think I'm stupid? How many are you? Does the little human girl count? Do you count those flea-ridden mongrels as apart of your coven? I suppose not. That would be just disgraceful. Even for you toothless human lovers." Carlisle froze.

How long had they been watching his family? A month at the most…since the battle with Victoria's newborns…possibly longer?

"Maria has been planning this for too long. I was kidding earlier about eating him, but the girl, now she smells _irresistible_." Carlisle only just managed to keep from growling at the playful, but deadly words the boy spoke.

"Have you a name, boy?"

"I had a human name- Julian. I remember my mother sobbing it one last time before I snapped her neck."

Maybe if Carlisle still possessed a human stomach he would have been sick. It seemed like the vampiric nature in the boy was amplified by his own gift to manipulate it in others.

Coming back from his thoughts Carlisle figured he had probably moved far enough back to feel safe. He was close enough to the side door if he needed to grab his son and escape so he stopped.

He was beginning to wonder if his children had been ambushed by others while hunting, but remembered that they had only left about an hour ago and were unaware of his and Jasper's current predicament. They were hopefully almost done.

He only had to stall for a little longer, and the boy didn't seem like he was in a hurry, which struck Carlisle as odd.

"Did Maria really send you to steal my son from us so quickly. He only received her message some few hours ago, hardly enough time for him be able to think her proposition over."

"Oooh, I've been found out," The boy said, chuckling as he held up his hands in mock surrender, "I was only ordered to watch you, but he was all alone and I could help but take the opportunity for what it was."

Did that mean that if the chance turned sour he would retreat, this boy seemed fairly strong and cruel, but also smart. Would he still fight when there was more than just one capable enemy standing against him?

"Your power seems to be an interesting one. I've never- in all my years, seen anything like it. Judging by how long you seemed to have been watching us I'm shocked that none of us smelled you. Was that your doing?"

"Isn't it cool?" He gloated, puffing out his chest and looking quite proud, "Maria says she loves me the most. My sister hates it as well-which is great…but even if Maria has me she's not happy." His eyes sharpened, his voice and posture grew more threatening.

"She's never once stopped wanting that weak, toothless bastard back!" Julian growled, his red eyes burned with jealousy as he glared past Carlisle at Jasper.

"Even if I can weaken our enemies. He was the only one that made her _army_ stronger-united. She's having to go through more newborns than ever, and all I ever hear about anymore is _his_ goddamn name!" Julian's anger had obviously begun to cloud his judgment and with an enraged roar as the only warning he lunged forward to attack.

Having to move quickly, Carlisle grabbed his son as gently as he could and barely managed to avoid the enraged boy. Unfortunately he had gone in the wrong direction and now Julian stood between their escape and left them with near no room to run. Julian laughed and got ready to attack again.

"Carlisle, Jasper!" Esme's surprised shout caught their attention, and before he could warn her, they had been abandoned in place of his wife.

The small vampire was faster than even Edward and had already grabbed Esme's arm before she had realized it. She couldn't overpower Julian and break his tight grip enough to pull away. Smiling widely up at her with his face hardly betraying any of the grisly thoughts he was more than likely thinking, he spoke.

"You're his momma, right? I love mommas, but I never killed one like you before. Will your neck snap even louder?"

Esme cried out and tried to pull away again when Julian dug his venom dripping teeth into the skin above her wrist, his mouth wrapping all the way around her thin forearm. The venom hissed as it burned her. She cried out when the fire quickly started creeping its way up from the wound of her torn skin to the rest of her body.

Carlisle moved to attack as soon as he heard his wife's cry, but before he could, the front door flew open and Emmett, dirty and bloody from their hunt charged in, reaching them first.

"Get the hellaway from her!" He growled out as he charged.

Swinging his leg out faster than Julian could dodge, he connected hard with the boy's torso, sending him away from Esme, and crashing through a glass window out into the woods. The sound of snapping tree bark echoed through the forest as at least three trees were left splintered near in half from the wake of his kick.

Alice and Rosalie were right behind him, each looking much less disheveled than Emmett. Alice helped her mother to the couch letting Rosalie take over before she turned to a slightly stunned and extremely relieved looking Carlisle.

"He wont be coming back. I'm sorry we took so long, but Bella is safe with Edward and…" Her eyes finally found her lover and her thin eyebrows knitted together as if she was horrible pain at the poor sight of him.

Everyone's attention changed, focusing on Jasper who had slumped down to the floor with his back against the wall, his blue eyes trained on the hole in the glass where Julian had been thrown.

"…Oh god," Alice raced over to Jasper and pulled him to her, taking his warm face in her hands so that she could meet his eyes. She had seen it already but she was still shocked to find Jasper's eyes a different color- a human color.

For a second there was nothing that let Alice know he even recognized her, but after a moment Jasper's blue eyes flickered and something sparked in them akin to wonderment. He gasped, his breath catching in his throat, and everyone heard his heartbeat begin to quicken.

He looked up at her with wide eyes as if he was seeing her face for the first time.

"…Like an angel…" He murmured, completely mesmerized.

He tried to reach up to touch her face, but Alice grabbed his hand before he could and she pulled it to her, placing it over her silent heart. She tried not to cry out when she noticed how his other arm lay uselessly on the floor, oddly angled and obviously broken, instead Alice lovingly smoothed back his damp, and matted blond hair with shaking fingers. It was almost as if he couldn't feel the break, the only thing his thoughts could focus on were Alice as he whispered her name like a mantra.

"Jazz…" Although after that, Alice found she didn't know what to say. They could all smell it, the human smell that was coming from him had them all impossibly amazed, but she knew from the small pieces of her vision that the powers would begin to weaken without Julian there to control them, and she could hardly stop herself from the overwhelming relief that swelled as she watched.

The human smell of sweat and blood were fading and the sound of her lover's heartbeat slowed to a stop. Red leaked into the blue of his eyes spreading like blood until it completely replaced the color, and after a moment the gold returned as the bright red weakened and altered.

Recognition returned to those eyes and he blinked up at her. He sniffed the air, a nervous habit Alice remembered Jasper did when he was bothered, more than likely sensing their unease. The rest of them began to relax as it seemed he had gained back his awareness.

"What happened?" He asked her, and Alice, unable to reply with only the small knowledge she possessed turned a questioning gaze to Carlisle. Their father stepped forward and helped Alice pick him up from the floor. Together they carried him over to the couch to sit with Esme.

"What do you remember?" Carlisle asked as Esme who, despite the pain she was in, still took his hand and held it comfortingly in her uninjured one.

Japer seemed to be thinking it over before he answered. "I was cleaning up the vase I'd thrown." His eyes flitted past Carlisle to the remaining pieces of glass on the floor. The pile he'd just gathered up was scattered more than it had been, as if someone had kicked it and sent the shards spreading out across the wood. The trash bin he'd been using was now lying on its side and he couldn't recall how it had gotten like that. "Did something happen?"

Hadn't everyone just left a half hour ago? Surely his siblings and Alice hadn't finished hunting so quickly?

Emmett was the one who answered his question, motioning to the broken window and the table the newborn Julian had broken.

"There was an attack."

"What?!" Emmett then pointed to their mother, and Jasper with a jolt realized that the smell he noticed earlier was the smell of quickly fading vampire venom. He'd been so disoriented he hadn't even recognized it.

Rosalie returned to the room with a wash cloth, and she gently tried to wipe the torn skin of Esme's forearm doing her best to clean the wound and prevent it from scarring too much.

Jasper groaned when he thought about the scar the venom would undoubtedly leave on his beautiful mother's skin.

"Where's Bella and Edward?" Esme eased his worries with a gentle touch to his back, and her touch helped as it always did. He leaned his head forward, running his hands through his hair.

"Their fine? And you and everyone else-are ya'll alright?…" He mumbled and Esme nodded confirming it.

Everyone was okay-save a few scrapes. How many had Maria sent…five? More than that?

Jasper growled, hating this lack of memory he was experiencing.

"Edward will stay with her the rest of the night, and tomorrow morning Bella is to inform Charlie that she will be staying over here to plan for the wedding with Alice." Jasper nodded. That was a believable enough lie. They would be able to keep her safe here-well…safer than she would be at her home. Any more attacks on the house would hopefully find them more prepared.

"She's also contacted Jacob, and the pack and will be coming, and hopefully they will agree to help us with this." While Esme explained what they had planed so far Jasper still couldn't take his eyes away from the deep wound on her arm.

He grew more frustrated with himself by the second that he'd been absolutely no help to his family, especially when it was his entire fault they were in this current mess.

"Why don't I remember the attack?" He snapped suddenly his frustration finally boiling over.

"The attacker- a newborn named Julian. It seems his power is the ability to manipulate the vampiric state of our immortal bodies. Apparently he was somehow able to return your humanity and alter your mind to make it more prone to suggestion, if only for a short amount of time. Does your arm hurt?" Carlisle asked stepping forward to examine the arm he remembered breaking by accident.

The horrible echo of the bone snapping still reverberated loudly in Carlisle's memory and he was sure he would not soon forget the sound.

"Should it?" Jasper replied sullenly. Carlisle was silent and Jasper watched his father roll up the long sleeve of his shirt revealing crescent on top of crescent shape, but aside from his old scars there was nothing to suggest that anything else had been wrong.

"Was my arm hurt in the fight?" He questioned again. There was no new bite wound, and Jasper knew that if he had been bitten he'd still be feeling the sting of the venom. But hadn't Carlisle said he'd been affected by the boy's powers, how did they work exactly? Even if he had been human…did that mean injures vanished once he returned to normal?

Carlisle looked up at him, guilt clear on his face.

"I…I hadn't realized what he'd done to you, I attempted to move you away from him and used to much force, your arm snapped."

"You broke his arm?" Emmett cackled inconsiderately, unable stop himself from enjoying the way Jasper growled at him, only making him laugh harder. Carlisle was about to scold Emmett for the rude laughter, but paused when he noticed Jasper's frown begin to transform into a smirk.

Slowly Jasper's mood couldn't help but take a better turn, his empathic powers allowing him to fall easily under the tide of his brother's laughter.

He growled lightly and enjoyed how it only made Emmett howl harder. His brother raised his muscled arm up, letting his forearm fall limp, from there, he began flopping it around in Jasper's face.

"It's fine now you dick! Even with a broken arm I could beat your sorry ass!" Emmett had finally stopped flinging his arm around and had returned to clutching at his sides when Jasper bowled into him.

The two fought for a bit before Emmett had Jasper pinned to the floor on his stomach, sitting proudly on his brother's back punching his arms high in a triumphant celebratory manner.

"Looks like you're still on the mend, little brother." Carlisle was glad to see the affection easily slip back into the atmosphere of the room, but Alice's stern face, which was normally so bright caught his eye from the side.

"What is it Alice?" He asked her quietly while Jasper and Emmett began another round, this time with Rosalie being pulled into the fray, shrieking when Jasper attempted to throw her at her husband and sending the two crashing to the floor before they decidedly ganged up on him and chased him from the room.

"I feel so useless." Alice told him, "I was just wondering how we can possibly fight another army, one that seems even bigger and stronger than Victoria's. I mean, Maria has been doing this since the days of the Civil War, they're going to be more organized. We know she's got at least two extremely gifted vampires under her command with offensive powers, but are there more?" Her gaze only grew darker as she continued.

"Edward and me-our gifts are more defensive. Even with our strength and speed we can't stand a chance against vampires like Jane or this newborn Julian. Could we win against an army of super powered vampires?"

Alice was completely aware of the distinct possibility, that if Jasper acted on the intention he had voiced earlier that evening. The intention of joining Maria without question in order to save them from a fight, then she would be losing her soul mate, and she would be loosing him to the woman who'd sired and used him for her own, selfish gain for the first many years of his immortal life. A woman who Jasper, when telling Bella his story-probably without even realizing it-still spoke of with a slight tone of adoration in his voice.

"…I don't…I can't loose him Carlisle…not to that life, and not to her." The last part Alice had whispered softly, but Carlisle had heard her and he pulled his daughter close in a tight hug.

"We'll come up with something." But as he said it, Carlisle had to admit the words sounded weak when competing against their fears.

________________________________=T=W=I=L=I=G=H=T=_____________________________

Bright light was the bane of Bella's existence, she decided when the harsh morning sunbeams hit her square in the face.

Living in Forks, Bella felt little need for blinds, seeing that the sun never managed to creep very far past the thick gray clouds. But this morning the poor struggling sun had apparently manage to finally break its way through.

It also didn't help much that her soul mate, who was laying next to her acted very much like a disco ball, refracting the light with his skin and into her eyes. Bella loved her Edward, everything about him, but at seven o'clock in the morning she wasn't very impressed by the feature.

"When we get married we're going shopping for curtains." Bella groaned, just knowing that he was finding this hilarious. "We're buying curtains so that you don't wake me up as soon as the sun rises."

"Bella, love, you'll be a vampire. You wont be sleeping much-if at all, after we're married." Bella laughed at herself, forgetting for a split second the terms of their agreement and chalked it up to still being half asleep, which was a good thing. She was still so on the cuff of sleep that thankfully her thoughts didn't stray to the disheartening knowledge that she wouldn't be doing much of anything after their wedding, except acting like a starved, wild animal.

Bella wrapped her arms tighter around Edward's torso, which she had somehow exchanged in place of her pillow during the night, and stretched her entire body, smiling when her stiff bones realigned loudly from the movement, loving the feeling as they eased back into place

She always felt like a cat when she stretched her muscles in order to wake them up. Her toes made unattractive popping noises when she moved out from under the covers and put her feet on the floor, but she just laughed.

She had to admit that waking up with Edward, was something she would miss when she changed.

"I'm going to go get ready. Charlie didn't leave for work yet, did he?" Edward listened for a moment and heard the sounds of the coffee maker beginning to run.

"No I think he just woke up." Bella looked surprised.

"You didn't hear him get up?" Edward gave her a sheepish smirk.

"I was listening to your breathing. I think I blocked out everything else." Bella jumped back onto the bed and leaned forward to give Edward a quick kiss. She pulled back and grabbed herself a pair of clothes for the day and her bath supplies before heading off to take a shower.

"You wanna go downstairs and wait for me there? Or meet me outside?" Edward pulled himself effortlessly from the bed's tangled covers and moved to the window.

"I'll wait downstairs. Explain to Charlie about the whole planning and staying over thing. You're a terrible liar." Bella huffed and chucked her tube of toothpaste at him but he deftly caught in his hand and threw it back to her-carefully so she could catch it, and gracefully jumped from the window before she could do much else. Bella could hear him laughing softly as he dropped down to the ground below.

She quickly hopped in the shower priding herself on only slipping once as she got out. She might not have been very nimble when she saved herself, but she did manage to keep property damage to a minimum, wincing though, when her weight accidentally pulled over the towel rack she had used as leverage. Aside from that, the bathroom and she had come out completely intact.

She brushed her teeth quickly and ran her a comb through her wet hair a few times to get all the tangles, and then she was out the door, snapping the straps of her bra to move them out of sight and under her t-shirt. As Bella made her way down the stairs her hands pulled her wet hair into a messy ponytail and she attempted to take each step quickly but carefully. She hoped her father wasn't giving Edward a hard time.

The subdued conversation of the two and the sound of coffee being poured into a mug floated up the stairs as she descended. She winced when she got close enough and heard Edward politely thank her father for the drink. She would have to make sure to take some from him when Charlie wasn't looking.

"So how's the planning going?" Her father just finished asking at the same moment she entered. The two sat facing each other at the small table that was shoved into the corner of their kitchen. Edward held his hot coffee mug in his hands, and both were smiling, appearing cordial enough.

"I'm afraid I'm not privy to much, sir. Alice has taken over all maid of honor duties to the utmost extremes. I'm not even sure that I'm still to be one of the ones standing in front of the alter anymore." Charlie chuckled at Edward's little joke and nodded understanding.

"You better be if I'm getting all dressed up." Bella told him, joining in on the joke. Edward watched her as she walked over to the coffee pot.

"Oh! Sugar." Edward said as if just remembering, and holding up his full mug of coffee.

"I can-." Before Charlie could finish the offer to grab some for him, Edward was across the kitchen and at Bella's side.

"I've got it sir." Edward said then he turned to Bella. "Good morning love,"

Edward smirked sneakily at her and moved in to give her what seemed like an innocent kiss on the cheek. With them so close and blocking Charlie's view he used the opportunity to pour his untouched coffee into Bella's own empty mug. "Have a good night's sleep?" He asked her.

Bella was too busy trying not to laugh to do anything but nod.

Edward made sure Charlie saw him reaching for the pot and acted as if he was pouring coffee into Bella's mug, still using their bodies to block Charlie from seeing the rest. Then he placed it safely back onto the plate-never having spilt a drop.

Finally he opened the packet of sugar he'd gotten up for, and tipped the contents into her mug as well. He winked devilishly at her before picking up his now empty mug.

Charlie was none the wiser as he talked on about his and Rene's own wedding and how he had had little say in matters as well.

Edward turned around to face her father, leaning back against the counter pretending to take a sip from his coffee he spoke. "So are you okay with Bella coming over sir? I can't be certain when you'll get her back. Alice might take her captive all the way up until the wedding." That was purely a joke right? Reverse psychology to get Charlie to say yes? Edward didn't really think that was how long this new problem would take…did he?

Her pulse quickened. Maybe they had decided to turn her early…and maybe this time she could help, instead of relying on everyone else to protect her.

She stopped herself, thinking what a silly idea that was.

'_As if I'd be in any type of mindset to help anyone.' _But trying to think more optimistically she reassured herself that her vampire family would get past this, and then her and Edward would be married, and then after a time in horrible agony, she would be with her soul mate and new family until the end of her unnatural life…whenever that would be.

"I'm sure. I suppose I need to get used to living alone again." Charlie sighed, but before Bella could feel sad for her father he had glanced down at his watch and announced he needed to be heading out.

Bella moved over to him after he'd tugged on his jacket and hugged him, just in case it would be the last time she'd be seeing her father. She hoped not, she wasn't quiet ready to let her old life go. There was still that hesitance to say goodbye for good.

"I'll see you in a few days dad." Charlie returned the hug before pulling away. He smiled down at her, then he turned to Edward where a sterner look replaced his smile.

"You take care of my daughter, you hear son." Edward nodded, just as serious-even more serious than Charlie.

"I will sir." The police chief couldn't help but break back into a grin.

"Hell son, call me Charlie. No more of that sir crap. You're gonna be family soon." Edward returned the smile.

"Thank you Charlie."

"I'll see you when you're done Bella. Tell Alice and everyone I said hello."

"I will." Bella promised. Edward came to stand by her as the front door slammed shut. Looking at her Edward noticed the faraway look in her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked. Bella smiled fondly still watching her father get into his police car and pull out of their driveway. Edward leaned down and kissed the side of her temple.

"I was just thinking about old memories, memories that I'll be sad to forget. But it's worth it." She answered. Her face turned sad a second later and she started to head towards the door. Edward grabbed her hand softly and pulled her back.

"Hey," He whispered, "You know, Jasper, Esme, and Rosalie-they all still remember some of their human life."

"Really?" She asked, a small smile had appeared…hesitant, but hopeful from the new information.

"Really. Jasper remembers having a little sister. He remembers his father and older brother teaching him to hunt and to use a gun. Rosalie remembers her first dance with a boy, and the night her mother passed down a pearl necklace that had belonged to her grandmother, even remembering what her mother was wearing when she gave it to her. Esme doesn't remember much but an accident when she was little-that she wont tell us anything about, and also what her son looked like."

With each word Bella's smile began to brighten more and more, and Edward could see the hope return to her eyes.

"So I might remember certain memories?" Edward nodded.

"Although we don't really know how they remember. Maybe it depends on what you're feeling when your turned, maybe their transformation was slightly less painful-therefore less damaging, but don't give up on those memories just yet Bella. Promise me you won't give up on them easily."

"I promise."

_________________________________=T=W=I=L=G=H=T=_______________________________

Bella couldn't _believe_ the sight in front of her when she and Edward walked into the Cullen house. Here she had been, worrying throughout most of the morning and previous night about how much danger they were in, and there right in front of her sitting at the island, were Jasper and Rosalie-neck and neck in an arm wrestling match.

He had challenged Rosalie almost an hour ago, and neither had gained any footing in the past forty-five minutes, and he'd grown very bored very quickly, and seeing them enter into the kitchen had apparently finalized the excuse to surrender that he had been looking for. So with a sad sigh, Jasper began to put less power in his arm. Rosalie, upon seeing the copout for what it was, slammed his hand down with probably more force than was necessary. She hated being given a win, even worse than losing and the sound Jasper's hand made when it cracked into the granite helped her feel a little less cheated.

"Hey you two. We were starting to wonder if the flea brigade would show up before you did." Emmett's head peaked into the kitchen, his dark, short curls sticking to his head. Water dripped from his shoulders and arms from a quick dip in the lake, and when he came all the way into the doorway Bella was sure her face would never return to its normal color.

"Aww! God almighty, Emmett! Put some damn clothes on!" Jasper growled, shielding his eyes.

"I swear, if you've traumatized Bella…!" Edward yelled as well letting the threat hang, his hand already up to cover Bella's eyes for her, seeing that he had reacted much faster than her human reflexes could.

"What, jealous?" Emmett snidely asked. His tone then turned sympathetic, "Poor little Bella, doomed to a eternity of skinny shoulders and bony hips. You're just upset cause you don't want her knowing what a real man looks like." In a split second Bella was left standing alone in the kitchen with Jasper. Crashing sounds and a creaking ceiling above telling her where Emmett and Edward had run off to, and an angry voice yelling at Edward to put down a bookcase let her know where Rosalie had also disappeared.

Jasper was silent for a second. He watched as Bella made her way over to the counter, taking the seat that had just been occupying Rosalie, across from him. She smiled softly at him from her spot and he felt his own face splitting into a grin. He was glad to see that their encounter yesterday hadn't shaken her too much.

"He doesn't do that often does he?" She asked him. They both winced as an exceptionally loud crash resounded from the second floor.

"Not really, though I think that was some sort of small initiation for you." Bella blinked.

"Initiation?"

"Yeah." He laughed as if he shouldn't have to explain this, "You know, into the family. I think everyone has a little something planned." Bella felt her cheeks reddening and she groaned.

"I don't know if I can handle anything else like that."

"Oh no. Not like that." He reassured her, laughing outright at the face she made.

"I think the girls are planning a shopping trip to France, and Carlisle's already working on your crest." He stretched his long arm across the table to show her a crest sewn onto a black leather band which he wore around his wrist. She admired it for a moment. The colors of the crest where rich green and pretty silver which shone brightly against the sunlight that sneaked in through the kitchen windows making the lion on it look even more proud.

Bella thought it a beautiful design, but she wondered why he had it on such a shoddy piece of fabric. She noticed a flat hook hanging from the side of the band-it was rusted and seemed very old.

"What's that clip for?" She asked him, pointing to it. Jasper pulled his arm back slowly and took the rough hook between his fingers.

"It's a snap. The carbine sling I used in the army had belonged to my father. He gave it to me when I learned to hunt. After I was turned I kept it as long as I could. By the time Alice and I arrived here, there wasn't much more than this left, so Esme offered to fix it up with the crest Carlisle had given me." Jasper smiled fondly thinking about the memory.

"Edward says you remember a bit about your life before you became a vampire." She was curious from the small snippets of what Edward had told her earlier, but she wondered if Jasper would feel like telling her. Her worry however was unfounded because Jasper did not miss a beat.

"I remember a lot more than the others. I think it's because I wasn't near death like everyone else was, and for Alice…we don't know what kind of condition she was in before she turned-aside from the fact that she'd been in an asylum-to even guess why she can't remember." Bella fidgeted with her hands before she worked up the nerve to ask her other question.

"Do you remember your parents?" Jasper was silent for a moment the faraway look had returned to his eyes. This question was more personal and she didn't expect him to want to tell her, but it was one of the things she feared forgetting most, and if Jasper could have told her he did…it would be like a weight off her shoulders, and one less thing for her to fear. The words floated to her ears and Bella could see him playing out the memories in his mind.

"My mom made the best cornbread. It was the thing I missed most when I went to war. We had it every now and then, but it was thinner and wasn't salty enough….It's odd when I think about her."

"Why?" Bella asked, prompting him to continue on the edge of her seat.

Jasper turned around, looking back at the door his three siblings had gone through.

"To be honest, Rosalie reminds me of her a sometimes. My mother-she was a right violent woman when she wanted to be. She'd smack my brother and I over the head more times than I can remember-any time we said something she didn't like." Jasper made a popping noise with his mouth and hit the air. "You can about imagine how hard she hit me when I said I was going off to fight." Jasper chuckled and leaned back in his seat again.

"I don't remember much about my father, he died I think when I was twelve…umm…" He paused thinking. The memory seemed to be very foggy for him, "Suicide. I think."

Bella was shocked at how easily the words had been delivered.

"I'm sorry." Bella mumbled, now she felt bad bringing it up, no matter how casual Jasper been while he told her.

"Bella. It's alright. You know…it was a long time ago." He was trying to reassure her that he wasn't upset. She nodded not really knowing what else to do and agreed to drop the conversation to start a new one.

"What time is it?" She asked lamely when she couldn't come up with anything interesting to say. Jasper glanced over to the clock on their useless stove and read out twelve-thirty five to her. "The pack should be here soon." She explained.

Jasper dropped down from the island stool, helping her get back on her feet as well so she didn't trip. "Why don't we go see if Edward's ripped Emmett apart yet?" Bella giggled and allowed Jasper to lead her into the living room, trusting he knew exactly where everyone else was due to his vampire senses.

The crashing and slamming sounds from upstairs had ceased sometime during their conversation, and Bella hadn't even noticed. The house was so quiet now as they walked.

They found the rest of the family in the living room, offhandedly Bella noticed one of Esme's pretty vases was missing and wondered if she had moved it. Emmett was thankfully fully dressed and Edward looked much calmer. Rosalie was sending a constant glare at her love to where he sat across from them.

There was a new voice among the group of vampires one that Bella knew with such startling clarity that she was sure Jasper could feel just how happy she was.

"Jacob!" Seth and Carlisle paused in their conversation when she shouted, but Bella ignored them for now running up to hug her best friend. She was even more at ease now that Jacob was there. The wolves would help her vampire family with this new problem.

"Bella…" Hearing his tone and realizing that Jacob wasn't hugging her back she pulled away slowly, hoping that she was imagining the solemn look he was giving her. She looked back and saw Seth giving her a similar expression.

"What's going on…?" She asked. Looking around she noticed that none of the other pack members were present, "Where's the rest of the pack?"

"I'm sorry Bella but…" Seth tried and failed to explain. Jacob decided to take over and say what his friend couldn't, sparing no kind words as he did.

"We can't help."

* * *

_Well there's chapter 2. Don't worry I'm not cutting out the wolves just yet. _

_I've got three days off for Mardi Gras so that gives me nothing to do but write, cause it's not like I go to any parades. So lucky you! Expect the next chapter at the end of the week!_


	3. Moonshine

* * *

_It is madness for a sheep to talk peace with a wolf. _

_ Thomas Fuller _

* * *

As soon as Bella's mind processed Jacob's words she moved to slap his outstretched hand away.

"What do you mean you can't help?!" She exclaimed. Jacob kept his face stern and unyielding in the wake of her anger.

"That's good," The room turned, everyone but Edward gave Jasper a confused expression, "You wont be helping, but you _will_ take Bella with you until this is all sorted out." He commanded.

Jacob stared for a moment, clearly he was trying to discern just how serious Jasper was.

"You want to leave Bells in my care for an _indefinite_ amount of time?" His voice sounded incredulous and Bella couldn't help but share his disbelief. She knew that the Cullens would have to leave her out of the fighting, but this…

"Jasper you can't be serious? I'll be all the way on the reservation. I know I can't help, but not knowing if you all are okay is going to drive me insane." Edward rose from the couch and made his way over to where she stood.

"Bella. Love," He said softly trying to calm her by placing a hand on her shoulder, "It's a good plan, and the best one we've got so far."

Bella couldn't believe him. She moved back, retreating next to Seth, her head down and trying not to let everyone see the tears that she was barely able to hold back. She felt so _useless_! Was she ever going to be anything more than a hindrance to her new family?

"I understand…" She did, but she didn't agree. She spoke in no higher than a whisper, scared to raise her voice, knowing that any louder and it would quiver. She felt Jasper trying to alter her emotions-trying to make her calmer. Her eyes snapped in his direction and she willed her anger and desperation to flare in defiance. "Stop it." She hissed. Instantly the push was gone and she tried to ignore the guilty look that had appeared on Jasper's face quelling her own guilt that was starting to bloom in her chest as well.

She turned and grabbed Seth's hand. Pulling him towards the door she called over her shoulder. "We'll be outside." Seth hardly made a sound as she angrily stomped from the room and through the large glass doors to meet the surrounding forest. She didn't stop until they were a good five minutes away from the Cullen mansion.

She had been trying to make it all the way to the lake, but the combined effort of pulling Seth's large mass and her angry stride had tired her out too fast and she finally had to slow down, before stopping altogether.

Seth had remained quiet throughout her whole tantrum and didn't speak until she released his arm. When she turned to face him was when he finally spoke in an even tone.

"Jasper didn't mean to make you sound like a hindrance." Bella plopped down on a mossy log, angrily rubbing at her burning eyes which had only gotten worse as they had walked. She felt ridiculous for having thrown such a fit in front of her vampire family, but she had suddenly felt like a child again, switching weekends with her parents.

"I can take care of myself." She hissed stubbornly. Seth moved to sit next to her, but instead settled on the ground when the log strained with his added weight.

"Bella, this world of ours…these situations…they're dangerous for _us_. I know how much you hate it, but you are human, and if you want to remain with Edward and get to that eternity with him, you need to let us protect you." Bella glared at her wolf friend, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I'm not saying you're some damsel in distress…but let those who want to keep you safe, keep you safe." He gave her a big smile and she felt herself unable to do anything but return it. "Besides you'll have so much fun hanging with us again! We all miss you." Bella laughed.

"Thanks." She sighed. She felt a little better, but no less guilty. Still…Seth had helped her feel not so angry with Jasper for suggesting she leave. He only wanted her safe, like they all did.

Having cooled off enough Bella lifted herself from the ground and helped Seth up. "Why don't we head back?" She asked him. What she didn't expect was for Seth to growl at her in response.

* * *

"Jacob I know that keeping Bella safe is important, and not just to us but to you as well. We need the pack's help with this." Carlisle tried to reason.

"Sam wont allow it. Since Leah got hurt…He wants to stay out of it. He said that Seth and I were all he would send…"

Edward had long since allowed the conversation to fade in the back of his mind. Alice's thoughts were running wild and the unusual panic in her was beginning to unsettle him. She may ramble out loud, but her thoughts were always clear and organized. Now there was no order. Her thoughts speeding so fast from one to the next that words blurred together. He glanced over to where Jasper stood and noticed that he also seemed to be sensing something off about her.

Without saying anything, Jasper closed the few inches that had been between them and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. He didn't say anything, but leaned his head so that their temples touched. Edward immediately heard her thoughts begin to calm, but he could still hear her repeating that one word.

_Run. Run. Run. _

_Would running away be best? Take Jasper and run off? If Maria tracked them down, just the two of them wouldn't stand a chance by themselves. _

"Italy!" The idea suddenly dawned on him. His family and Jacob turned to him, and he rose from the couch. "Alice and Carlisle can take Jasper and go to Italy. Then, Carlisle, you can talk to the Volturri, they might help if you ask personally." It would be a longer shot than anything, but it was better than fighting when they would clearly be outnumbered. His family looked at him as if he'd suddenly grown something unpleasant from his body.

"Edward the Volturri don't meddle with newborn fighting-"

"Plus they're nuts." Emmet interrupted.

"But they like Carlisle." Edward pushed on, "I'm sure if he asked them for help they would do something about Maria."

"But what about Bella?" Emmett replied. "I'm sure they wont like the fact that we haven't turned her yet." Edward didn't skip a beat.

"Then. We turn her."

* * *

"Seth are you alright?" Seth snarled at her again and pushed her away. Bella watched, frightened as his clenched teeth grew longer and the vein in his eyes turned black. She stood from where she'd fallen and called his name again.

"Bella…get away…something's not right…" But Bella only edged closer trying to banish the image of Emily Young's scarred face from creeping into her mind.

"Seth what's wrong?" She moved closer but she dared not touch him.

"He's trying to fight the urge to rip off your head. I'm surprised really. None of the wolves I've _ever_ met were able to control themselves like he is. Most are just wild animals when you dig deep enough, but then again, so are most of us." Bella spun around, but as she scanned the thick forest line all she could see were tress.

"H-hello…?" A tree shattered right behind them and she cried out as the splintered bits showered over them. Arms wrapped around her and Seth rushed them both across the path away from the shards of bark, he then pulled away so fast that she had to catch herself or else tumble back to the ground.

"This is really amazing." Bella turned sharply when the laughter moved to right behind her. The young boy she saw there grabbed her throat with inhuman strength, not seeming to care that she couldn't breathe in his iron grip.

"I mean you're still going to die, but his resistance really is amazing." And the little boy with red eyes leaned in towards her.

* * *

The Cullens and he had been arguing so loudly that it wasn't for a few minutes until he noticed something was off.

"I can't hear Seth anymore." He announced suddenly. The arguing faded. Everyone watched as he listened again, but there was nothing where Seth's thoughts normally were. He tried hearing the other pack members and with a growing feeling of unease he found their thoughts were still connected to him. He picked up Leah cursing as she burned her dinner, Embry talking to his mother- could hear Sam, and everyone else, but when he tried again, Seth's thoughts were just…gone.

"I can't hear him either." Edward had apparently tried as well. Carlisle was the first out the door shouting for, Edward, and Jacob to follow, and for everyone else to stay put. Together they followed Seth and Bella's scents to a small clear path, but they didn't see either of the two when they finally slowed to a stop.

"Their scent is here, but it disappears just past the trees! Where are they?!" Jacob prowled the area, smelling around, his eyes darting somewhere new every second. Edward inspected the broken pieces of bark taking a guess as to who had smashed the tree to pieces.

"Seth's scent is off," Jacob realized. "It smells like an animal."

"Well you are animals," Edward growled as if that shouldn't have even been stated, "What's odd about him smelling like one?!" Carlisle sent Edward a warning glance, but he knew his oldest son didn't pay it much attention in such an irrational, worried state.

"Were are they?" Edward slammed his fist against the ground aggressively. They hadn't thought that Bella would be in any danger-that Maria only wanted Jasper, and so their focus had been on him. He shouldn't have made such a stupid assumption. "Can't you track them?!" He growled at Jacob. He couldn't pick up anything beyond the little clear path, no Bella, and no Seth or anyone else that could have confronted them.

"One of the newborns seems to be very good at dulling our senses." Carlisle explained.

"Even I can't smell them?! What the hell is this?!" Jacob growled. A wolf was made with the specific purpose to hunt vampires. If his nose couldn't pick up a trail then there was no trail. Edward thought this was all starting to become very ridiculous. They had to be watching them. The remaining roots of the tree Edward had just been examining were violently uprooted with a snarl before he flung it away like a twig, and sped back to the house, leaving Carlisle and Jacob to do nothing more but follow.

* * *

Maria of the South, as she had sometimes been called, was extremely pleased. Not everything had gone as planned, but she had decided to remain optimistic. Instead of just bringing her a simple human girl she had also been handed a wolf as well, for which she was almost giddy.

Wolves could be even more bloodthirsty and resilient than newborns at times- the vampire was their natural enemy, and by joining her they could kill as many as they liked. Every now and then they would take out a few of her own in a rage, but that was war-her newborns showed no more camaraderie amongst each other just the same.

And with her powerful newborns, controlling this little dog would be no problem. Julian had done good work so far.

The one year mark for him and his sister was drawing closer and he was doing everything he could to remain at her side. It was annoying, but she would keep them-they were easily her best soldiers after all. That is, until Jasper returned to her.

She wouldn't kill such gifted fighters when they blessed her ranks-the most powerful often stayed with her past the one year mark, for they loved the thrill of kill, but with Julian and Elian's strength waning she had to find someone stronger to fight at the front lines. A more experianced figher who could still lead, and she had yet to find one that had commanded her troops like her Jasper.

"So your name is Bella?" The girl didn't look all that frightened, more angry if Maria had to take a guess, "Do you know who I am?"

Maria continued when Bella remained silent, "My name is Maria-I'm a friend of Jasper's." Maria saw a spark of recognition in her brown human eyes.

"Do you talk?" She was beginning to become irritated with her one-sided conversation, but she kept up a kind face and retained a sweat tone, she found a gentle tone accomplished more when she dealt with humans.

"I talk." Maria hummed. No it really wasn't fear she smelled.

"Not all that much though." She crouched down on her heels so she could speak to the girl on her level.

"Where's my friend?"

"He's in worse shape than you I'm afraid," Maria said sighing sadly, easily feigning a look of guilt, and Bella's glare grew darker seeing no sincerity in the expression, "He put up more of a fight than you did, and my children grew skittish around him."

In a rush of anger Bella bravely- or foolishly-tugged at her restraints, her heart constricting at the implication that Seth was anything less than safe. Maria laughed at her bravado and a moment later it was gone.

"If you hurt him…" All Bella could do was make empty threats, which the vampire apparently found highly amusing.

Maria rose and unhooked the chains from the wall. Giving Bella no time to stand, Maria started for the door, dragging the shackled girl along with her.

Even without vampire hearing she could make out the growls and hissing coming from the small opening under the cell door.

Once Maria had it open the sight of Seth surrounded by at least ten vampires assaulted Bella's vision. His snarling faded to soft whimpers as soon as their eyes met. His eyes begging her for forgiveness, obviously blaming himself for their current predicament. The newborns saw his guard down and finally managed to bring him under control, clamping a heavy collar around his neck to keep him still. They then attached the chain connected to it to the stone wall behind him, leaving his exhausted body on the floor.

"You should forget about any heroics," Maria shouted loud enough so he could hear. She was unable to contain the grin from spreading across her face as she imagined her plan coming together, "You two are merely bait for what I want."

* * *

"Jasper, please _sit down_." Alice tried again stressing the words, and at the same time attempting to speak calmly, knowing that someone needed to. Esme had left the two of them alone to talk, but Jasper was too wound up for them to have anything resembling a conversation. Jasper ran his hands through his blond hair again, unable to keep his thoughts of guilt under control.

"We should have gone. If Bella or Seth are hurt-." Finally having enough of his pacing Alice grabbed his arm and roughly yanked him down to the couch with her.

"Jasper please, you're making me nauseous with all your pacing." Jasper finally calmed a bit and eventually stretched his arms over his head and back, circling them around her waist and settling comfortably against her.

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly. Alice was sure that if they were human, he would have dropped from exhaustion a good while ago. Just because they didn't have to sleep, didn't mean that their minds could take so much stress as he had dealt with in the last two days. Even vampires had to slow down and rest.

Alice ran her fingers down his jaw, along the scars grooved into his skin. His throat rumbled with a sigh and Alice leaned over him to rest her forehead against his. He pulled her to meet his lips, giving Alice a soft kiss before she leaned back again.

Neither said anything, they were comfortable with the silence, as they always were. Jasper could hear Emmett and Rosalie talking in the other room, but he easily tuned them out.

After awhile of quiet when Jasper began to wonder what was taking so long he couldn't help but break the peace that had finally settled.

"Do you think they found them yet?" It was silent, and Jasper huffed when she didn't answer. "Don't zone out on me. Alice?" Movement to his left over the couch caught his attention and he let go of Alice and sat up, but he didn't see anything.

"I hear you almost killed that human, what was it…less than a year ago?" Jasper spun his head around, immediately he spotted the intruders over by the double doors leading to the kitchen.

Two small girls stood before him, one laced up tightly, in a dark velvet Victorian frock, with brown hair styled in pretty, perfect ringlets, but she looked too old for the short dress. She had probably been well on to growing out of it before she was turned for the lacy hem brushed her thighs instead of her knees where it should have.

The other girl, a blond, held a much calmer look in her eye than her friend. She wore yellow shorts and a tattered tank top. The spots of blood that had dripped onto the fabric had dried brown again the purple dye.

Her clothes were definitely more modern. She was a newborn, yet a stark opposite of her wilder, better groomed looking friend-in the sense that she looked much more in control of her thirst, while the other girl pulsed waves of wild hunger in a continuous current.

Jasper didn't like the manic look in the brunette's eyes as she tilted her head to the side and studied Alice's still form, as if admiring a piece of art. He was up in the same amount of time it took them to move around the couch and in front of him.

"Do you feel guilty about almost killing her?" The blond asked bluntly. "Disgusted with yourself?"

"Yes." Jasper replied honestly. He humored them with an answer, and carefully tensed his muscles, waiting until just the right time to run.

"Little rabbit's trying to get away, and hopes we'll follow." The brunette sang in a breathy tone, finally almost painstakingly taking her gaze away from Alice to stare at him. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused but they caught his own, and he couldn't seem to break away from them. "Poor little rabbit, trying to play house with such abusive parents. Mummy and Daddy don't love you. Don't feed you right. No sweet candies."

"No sneaking fingers in the cookie jar." The blond cackled.

The brunette moved to the couch and touched Alice's short black hair lovingly, but never did she look away from him. He growled softly when the roaming fingers moved down to feather over Alice's frozen open eyes.

"She'd be like me if she had been touched, breathed in the smoke and felt the fire kiss her eyes. They melted and burst so quickly, and I hardly had time to scream," She sighed breathlessly and covered her own pair or red orbs. A hum bubbled up from her parted lips, "Here they come. Oooh, angry rabbit can leap in such bounds." Those next words were directed at her partner.

"Then we do this now," The blond turned and spoke to him again this time her tone was all buisness, "We have something you want. At this moment your brother and father are on their way back. Come with us and your little human girl will be returned to them, no harm done to her."

"Why should I believe you? I can handle two newborns myself. Tell me where Bella and Seth are and I'll let you go without ripping your bodies apart." His conditions were merely laughed at and the blond moved to drape her arms around her friend's shoulders.

"You shouldn't be threatening us, Jazz. In fact you should be really nice to us. We're your tickets to making this easier or harder for you." Together they swayed the brunette humming some soft melody.

"So you do that to my family, and expect me to go with you?" He waved in the direction of his frozen Alice, not knowing which one was responsible for her statue like appearance and not caring. "Get the hell out our house." The older girl's eyes snapped open wide and she stopped humming.

It hit him as soon as he had moved to attack, and he couldn't even catch himself in time to break his fall. Not that he really felt himself hitting the floor or anything else besides the fetid emotions that were crawling all along under his skin, clogging his veins.

Anger, sadness, guilt, worry, pain, hopelessness, betrayal, and rage. The frenzy of negative emotions were unmerciful as the waves slammed into his mind, and he curled in on himself. So sick-he was sure he would vomit something up from the way his insides twisted. He wished he could. What he was feeling wasn't anything like his normal empathic power. This wasn't even his normal ability amplified to its fullest. What he was experiencing was something physical, and it was clawing around inside him taking away layers from were it slashed wildly.

He scratched his nails at the floor, trying to fight the vertigo-breathing and heaving stale air from his dead lungs even though there was no need. His mind couldn't focus. He couldn't feel anything but the awful twisting and ripping. His eyes, he knew-his eyes were opened, but all he saw was white.

After what seemed like all the seconds in the world had finally run their course, sounds began returning to the space around him, as well as the sound of his raw vocal cords screaming and sobbing. He hacked pathetically into the cold stone floor where his face was pressed.

The sounds around him rose and the unfamiliar voices surrounded him, but one clear voice cut through them all. One voice that was like tattered velvet spoke to him-out to him- calling to him so sweetly.

"My Jasper. My Childe."

* * *

This chapter was SO hard to write, and I'm sorry it took so long! Hopefully now that Jasper is in Maria's evil clutches the angst will flow easier. I probably didn't check this as well as I could have. I just wanted to get it out, so sorry about any mistakes you might see.

Happy Easter to ya

and thnx for reading!


End file.
